Within-day and between-day reliability of thickness measurements of abdominal muscles using ultrasound during abdominal hollowing and bracing maneuvers

Ultrasonography imaging has been used as a non-invasive method to estimate the thickness and relative activities of the abdominal muscles in patients with lower back pain (LBP). However, the statistical reliability of US thickness measurements of abdominal muscles, including transversus abdominis (TrA), internal oblique (IO) and external oblique (EO) muscles during abdominal hollowing (AH) and abdominal bracing (AB) maneuvers has not been well-investigated. This study was performed on a total of 20 female subjects (10 with LBP and 10 without LBP) in the age range of 25�55 years to assess within-day and between-day reliability of the measurements. US measurements on maneuvers were repeated after two hours for the within-day reliability and after five days for the between-day reliability assessment. High intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) values (>0.75) for within-day and between-day reliability assessments during AH maneuver were concluded. The ICC values were moderate for reliability assessment during AB. The ICC values for AH were greater than AB both for within- and between-day reliabilities. The small standard error of measurement and minimal detectable change values (0.16�0.78 and 0.44 to 2.15, respectively) were found for both AH and AB. We recommend real-time US imaging as a reliable way of determining the thicknesses of the TrA and IO muscle (and to some extent, EO muscle) for both healthy and LBP patients. © 2017 Elsevier Lt

Within-day and between-day reliability of thickness measurements of abdominal muscles using ultrasound during abdominal hollowing and bracing maneuvers

Ultrasonography imaging has been used as a non-invasive method to estimate the thickness and relative activities of the abdominal muscles in patients with lower back pain (LBP). However, the statistical reliability of US thickness measurements of abdominal muscles, including transversus abdominis (TrA), internal oblique (IO) and external oblique (EO) muscles during abdominal hollowing (AH) and abdominal bracing (AB) maneuvers has not been well-investigated. This study was performed on a total of 20 female subjects (10 with LBP and 10 without LBP) in the age range of 25�55 years to assess within-day and between-day reliability of the measurements. US measurements on maneuvers were repeated after two hours for the within-day reliability and after five days for the between-day reliability assessment. High intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) values (>0.75) for within-day and between-day reliability assessments during AH maneuver were concluded. The ICC values were moderate for reliability assessment during AB. The ICC values for AH were greater than AB both for within- and between-day reliabilities. The small standard error of measurement and minimal detectable change values (0.16�0.78 and 0.44 to 2.15, respectively) were found for both AH and AB. We recommend real-time US imaging as a reliable way of determining the thicknesses of the TrA and IO muscle (and to some extent, EO muscle) for both healthy and LBP patients. © 2017 Elsevier Lt

Functional alterations in gluteal muscles due to low back pain: A qualitative review of the literature

One of the biggest problem in clinical examination of the patients with LBP symptoms is the lack of a comprehensive diagnosis protocol comprising all muscular alterations responsible for LBP. Connected to lumbar pelvis region, gluteal muscles perform the important role of transferring the upper-body movements as forces to the lower-body limbs. Therefore, the gluteal muscles have received an increasing attention by clinicians and researchers diagnosing LBP. However, there has been a scattered list of studies using electromyography, image scanning and physical examination techniques for monitoring the gluteal muscles of gluteus maximus (GMax), gluteus medius (GMed). In the present research, we reviewed the literature comprehensively, discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the measurement methods. By discovering the disagreements reported by different researchers, the resultant mutual findings across all studies were identified. This study concluded a strong relationship between a dysfunction in operation of the gluteal muscles and occurrence of LBP. The functional changes in gluteal muscles include fatigability in the GMax muscles, neuromuscular alterations and a decrease in abduction strength of the GMedmuscles. © 2018 Lahore Medical And Dental College. All rights reserved

Functional alterations in gluteal muscles due to low back pain: A qualitative review of the literature

One of the biggest problem in clinical examination of the patients with LBP symptoms is the lack of a comprehensive diagnosis protocol comprising all muscular alterations responsible for LBP. Connected to lumbar pelvis region, gluteal muscles perform the important role of transferring the upper-body movements as forces to the lower-body limbs. Therefore, the gluteal muscles have received an increasing attention by clinicians and researchers diagnosing LBP. However, there has been a scattered list of studies using electromyography, image scanning and physical examination techniques for monitoring the gluteal muscles of gluteus maximus (GMax), gluteus medius (GMed). In the present research, we reviewed the literature comprehensively, discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the measurement methods. By discovering the disagreements reported by different researchers, the resultant mutual findings across all studies were identified. This study concluded a strong relationship between a dysfunction in operation of the gluteal muscles and occurrence of LBP. The functional changes in gluteal muscles include fatigability in the GMax muscles, neuromuscular alterations and a decrease in abduction strength of the GMedmuscles. © 2018 Lahore Medical And Dental College. All rights reserved

Recovery of the lumbar multifidus muscle size in chronic low back pain patients by strengthening hip abductors: A randomized clinical trial

Introduction: Decrease in cross-sectional thickness of lumbar multifidus (MF) muscles during prolonged low back pain episodes commonly occurs. Restoration of the MF muscle size can be an effective way of treating chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients. Traditionally, clinicians apply muscle stabilization exercises for these patients. Recent studies support the need for active strengthening exercises for treatment of the CLBP patients. Objective: The MF muscles provide lumbar stability, and therefore we hypothesized that strengthening of these muscles can be more effective than the MF muscle stabilization exercises in restoration of the muscle size. Design: Study design was a randomized allocation control trial with two groups of adult female CLBP patients (n = 12 each; age range of 20�45). Patients in the control group underwent stabilization exercises and the patients in the intervention group underwent the hip abductor strengthening exercises. Setting: For all subjects of each group, the trials continued in 24 sessions distributed over 8 weeks and the MF muscles were measured in the beginning of the first session and one week after completion of the last session. Main outcome measures: Statistical significance (p-value) of the change in the average MF muscle thickness, pain, and disability scores along with for each group were estimated. Results: Both regimens of exercises can significantly decrease the pain and disability: average pain and disability reductions of 46 (p-value of 0.001) and 33 (p-value of 0.02) via stabilization versus average pain and disability reductions of 65 (p-value of 0.001) and 59 (p-value of 0.001) via hip abductor strengthening. However, the hip abductor strengthening is the sole statistically significant exercise regimen (p-value of 0.014 vs 0.94) for increasing the MF muscle size. Conclusion: Replacement of the traditional stabilization exercises with the hip abductor strengthening exercises for effective treatment of female adults with CLBP is recommended. © 2020 Elsevier Lt

A modified nanoporous stir bar for simultaneous determination of Cu(II) and Cd(II) ions in natural samples prior to flame atomic absorption spectroscopy

In this work, the application of stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE), as a fast and conventional method, has been investigated for the simultaneous preconcentration and determination of trace amounts of Cd(II) and Cu(II) ions in natural samples. For this purpose, the surface of stir bar was functionalized by amine functionalized nanoporous silica and characterized by IR spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and N2 adsorption. In this approach, after the preconcentration of Cd(II) and Cu(II) ions and removing the matrix interferences using modified stir bar, the amounts of these ions were determined in eluent by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS). Various parameters on adsorption and elution steps including pH of sample, adsorption kinetic, eluent parameters (type, volume and concentration) and elution time, have been optimized in this study. The limits of detection (LOD) were 1.6 and 13.8 ng mL-1 (recovery of 83.5 and 88.1%) for cadmium and copper ions, respectively. The preconcentration factors were 133 and 137 and the relative standard deviations (RSD) of the method were 5.7 and 4.6% for Cd(II) and Cu(II) ions, respectively. As the key point in this study seems to be stir bar nanoporous structure, the analytical performance of this stir bar was compared to non-porous ones. The accuracy of this novel method has been confirmed using some standard references materials. Finally the potential of this method was investigated by determination of Cd(II) and Cu(II) ions in some real samples with complicated matrixes

Lung cancer and kidney injury: An updated review

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, accounting for an estimated 1.8 million deaths. Lung cancer is also the most common primary cancer leading to soft tissue (ST) metastasis. Renal disease may occur as a direct or indirect consequence of the cancer itself (e.g., post-renal obstruction, compression, or infiltration), its treatment (e.g., radiotherapy or chemotherapy), or its related complications (e.g., opportunistic infection). Existing evidence shows that the most frequent primary solid tumor responsible for renal metastasis is pulmonary carcinoma, followed by gastric, breast, soft tissue, and thyroid carcinomas. Chronic kidney disease is a potential risk factor in the survival of patients with lung cancer. In this review, we will discuss causes of kidney injury in relation to lung cancer, potential mechanisms of kidney injury, and treatment options. © 2021 The Author(s); Published by Society of Diabetic Nephropathy Prevention.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]